Huawei has officially launched Mate X3 – a folding smartphone with an attractive design. However, the product still has the limitation that it lacks Google Mobile Services and 5G connectivity.
According to GSMArena, the Huawei Mate X3 has a much lighter design than its competitors. It weighs only 239 grams (the Feathered Sand model weighs 241 grams), 24 grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold4. Notably, Huawei achieves this in the context of its larger screen, battery, and periscope zoom camera. What’s impressive is that when unfolded, the Mate X3 is only 5.3 mm thick.
The Mate X has a book-fold design with two 120 Hz screens, of which the external screen has a size of 6.4 inches and offers a resolution of 2,504 x 1,080 pixels and a 20.9: 9 aspect ratio. Inside is a 7.85-inch panel with a resolution of 2,496 x 2,224 pixels reaching an almost square 8:7.1 aspect ratio.
The phone has the same IPX8 water resistance as the Galaxy Z Fold4, becoming the first folding smartphone to support water resistance, not from Samsung. Huawei also provides the Mate X3 with two-way satellite communication.
The new hinge design allows the Mate X3 to close flat. In addition, the company says that the phone will not have the usual folds, but this still needs to be considered in practice to draw conclusions. Even with a slim waist, the hinge supports the phone at multiple angles for selfies without a tripod. Plus there’s a split-screen mode for video calls and video viewing, as well as a new bedside mode that shows the weather and time
The Huawei Mate X3 has three cameras on the back and two 8MP selfie cameras placed on each screen. The rear camera includes a 50 MP f/1.8 wide-angle sensor, a 13 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide sensor, and a 12 MP f/3.4 5x telephoto sensor. The phone runs Harmony OS 3.1 (without Google Mobile Services), and comes with Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip combined with 12 GB RAM. However, the Mate X3 only has 4G connectivity because the company is prohibited from buying 5G modems. In addition, the phone also has a 4,800 mAh battery with support for 66W wireless charging and 50W wired.
The Mate X3 is currently only sold in China and there is no word on the company’s plans to roll it out to the global market. The price for the 256 GB version is $ 1,999, while the highest 1 TB version is $ 2,340
